Aptos Newborn Family Photography- Baby Josiah!

Aptos Newborn Family Photography!  Aptos is a tiny little town south of  Santa Cruz where we now live!  Most people just say Santa Cruz but I thought I would give Aptos a little love for this post! Ready to meet an adorable Aptos family who just welcomed a second son?Meet Baby Josiah, big brother Evan and the parents! What’s cuter than a family all cuddled up in a big bed? Not much- especially when there is a new little member to the family!

When I do a newborn/ family photo shoot I always like to start with the family pictures first!  In my opinion sometimes it is the hardest photograph to take but also one of the most important!  It’s nice to have it checked off the list and then move on to the other  images.

One thing I love doing is giving the older sibling some attention!  It’s hard for them sometimes to share the attention they have been used to having all to themselves!  Nothing like jumping on the bed to rev up the energy levels! What a great kid- so full of fun!!! His smile and laughter is so contagious!
While I was running around with Evan, I had a space heater warming up a small room to prepare for Baby Josiah’s portraits. To me a newborn shoot should be a combination of images of the family in their home but also a few posed studio-like images of the baby sleeping- you know the ones that make your heart melt when you look at them!  That newborn “look” does not last much longer than a few weeks so its important to get these images within the first 2 weeks. Mama nursed Josiah giving him a full belly and then a gentle massage on his head to lull him into dream land. The room was now at a balmy 85 degrees allowing the baby to be without clothes and not feel a chill. Babies this age cannot retain their body temperature so it’s important for the room to be warm enough. And viola, there he is sleeping like a little angel! I have some images of Jax when he was this age and they are still some of my favorites. I always try to reproduce something like that for other new mamas knowing how much I love my picture of Jax sleeping like this! Afterwards we brought Josiah back out into the living room for some pictures with Mom and Dad.  I love photographing the love on the faces of new parents as they admire their new child.  It’s such a beautiful time filled with so much joy and wonder. This was a bonus! Everyone on the couch for one more family picture!  As their shoot was coming to an end, Baby Josiah was ready for another nap and big brother Evan was in toddler mode- still running around full of energy!Baby Josiah, it was a privilege to document your tiny little self full of newborn sweetness and your adorable family!!